Southern California -- this just in

Neo-Nazi loses closely watched bid for water board seat in Riverside County

November 3, 2010 | 7:38
am

A neo-Nazi who generated national publicity by running for a seat on a small Riverside County water board was soundly defeated in the polls on Tuesday.

According to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Jeff Hall got less than 30% of the vote.

As California director of the National Socialist Movement — the nation's largest neo-Nazi group — Hall has helped lead demonstrations in Riverside and Los Angeles in which white supremacists waved swastika flags, chanted "white power" and gave stiff-armed Nazi salutes surrounded by hundreds of counter-protesters.

Hall's bid for a seat on the board of directors of the Western Municipal Water District drew outcries from community groups dismayed that a neo-Nazi who has held racist rallies at a day laborer center and a synagogue wants to administer their water — or at least gain publicity in the quest to do so.

Hall, a 31-year-old plumber, told The Times in an interview last month that he felt that water conservation was important and also affirmed his belief that all non-whites should be deported.

"I want a white nation," he said. "I don't hide what I am, and I don't water that down."

Dan Schruender, a member of Aryan Nations, known for distributing racist fliers in Rialto, was also defeated for his bid for a seat on Rialto's school board.